Introduction

These pages will introduce viewers to aspects of Tibetan medicine as practiced and studied today in Lhasa, Tibet.
Most of our videos were filmed at the Hospital of Tibetan Medicine (the Mentsikhang), in Lhasa. Some of the hospital's most distinguished doctors lectured for us on various topics and demonstrated techniques of diagnosis and therapeutics in Tibetan medical practice. Videos feature doctors examining patients and commenting in detail on their disorders. They also include interviews on certain types of disease in general, on the prevalence of those diseases in the hospital, and on the general operations of the hospital.

Essays

Short essays discuss the following topics:

Anatomy & Physiology: an overview of the human body as it is presented Tibetan traditional medical texts.

Tibetan Nosology & Etiology: an overview of the Tibetan understanding of disease states, the causes of disease, and other related topics.

Tibetan Diagnosis: an overview of Tibetan diagnosis, including comments on urinalysis, pulse analysis, and other related topics.

Tibetan Therapeutics: an overview of Tibetan therapeutics, including diet, behavior, pharmacology, and other related topics.

Further reading

The following basic texts are recommended for the introductory study of this topic:

Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine According to the rgyud bzhi (Dharamsala: Men-Tsee-Khang, 1997).

Video series

In the Liver Disorders video sub-series, two liver specialists discuss their work, and doctors examine patients being treated in the Department of Liver Disorders in the hospital.
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Department of Gastrointestinal Disorders, Lhasa Mentsikhang

In the GI Disorders video sub-series, physicians discuss diagnosis and treatment options in the GI Department, new technologies for diagnosis are introduced, and physicians examine patients staying in the hospital.
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Department of Musculoskeletal Disorders, Lhasa Mentsikhang

In the Musculoskeletal Disorders video sub-series, doctors examine patients staying in the hospital and discuss various therapeutic strategies.
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Expressing Pain

This series of videos features expressions of various sorts of pain or discomfort.